Duplex ballot-box



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet '1. J. W. ERNEST. DUPLEX BALLOT BOX. j

No. 499,337. Patented J me 13, 1893.

'J. WQBRNEST.

DUPLEX BALLOT BOX; v

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

No. 499,337. r Pat'gntedJunelii, 1893 "ATEINTD OFFICE.

JUAN w.- ERNEST, OF. Los ANGELEVS, IOAILIFORNIA.

DUPLEXBALLOT BO-X.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,337, dated June .13, 1893.

Application filed April 5, 1893. Serial No. 427,396. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JUAN W. ERNEST, a citizen of the United Statesfresiding at Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented a new and useful Duplex Ballot-Box, (for which I have not obtained a patent,) of which the following is a specification.

My inventionbroadly stated consists in a ballot box comprising the combination of an oblong hollow member open at one end and closed at the other end, and provided in its wall with a longitudinal ballot-receiving slot extending substantially from end to end of such member, and means for temporaril y closing the open end of such member.

It also comprises a ballot box of the character above mentioned having an inner member adapted to close the open end of the outer member and arranged to project into such outer member, and, by partial rotation, to close and open the ballot receiving slot.

It also consists in the combination of the outer member provided with a ballot receiving slot and closed at one end and open at the other end, and an inner member provided with a ballot receiving slot and opened at one end and closed at the other end and arranged to telescope within the outer member to form the box. Means for locking the members together are also provided, the members being provided with suitable perforations for that purpose.

My invention also consists in a ballot box in which a box with an opening in its side rotates inside of another box with a like opening, and when the openings are brought together the ballot box willbe open for receiving ballots, and when the inner box is turned to any other position the box will be closed, provided with lock, handle, feet, &c.

The objects of my invention are, first, to furnish better protection to the ballot from being removed after being deposited in the box; second, to prevent stuffing the ballot box after the poles are officially declared closed and before the count; third, to preserve the ticket from so much doubling and creasing as comes from folding into so small a form as is usual, which frequently makes it difficult to read what is written thereon, also making a smaller box practical because the ballots thus work ing.

folded will lie in each other closer and take lessroom; fourth, convenience in depositing the ballot, especially when the box is nearly filled, and also the sightly mannerof depositing, whereby the'voter can see his ballot deposited in the box in such a way that itwould be nearly impossible to change the ballot for another or accompany it with-another ballot; fifth, great strength and durabilitylwhen made even of light materials, as the sides are round in form anddoubled throughout theirl'ength; sixth, when made with the alarm bell attachment the bell will give warning whenever the box is opened; seventh, to provide a ballot box which is specially adapted to serve as a receptacle in which to secure the'ballots, &c.,

during transportation to and from the poles and prevent the same from being tampered with during transportation.

In using this box the election officers in charge are expected'to keep the ticket opening 0 0, closed at all times by turning the inner box to 20, except when actually engaged in depositing ballots, and when so closed it cannot be opened surreptitiously by any one without giving the alarm.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in wl1ich- Figure 1, is a detailed view in perspective of the entire box as it appears in position for receiving ballots; Fig. '2, a perspective view of the top of the entire box showing particularly the opening for receiving ballots; Fig.

3, a perspective view of'thetop of the inner box. Fig. 4, is a vertical section of theentire box showing also the alarm attachment and is made on a somewhat larger scale, to detail more plainly the alarm and its manner of I Fig. 5, shows a staple attached to a fiat spring. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal mid-section of the ballot box, cutting through the locking device, when the box is fully locked. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the alarm mechanism. Fig. 8 illustrates a form of means for locking the ballot box-which is partially indicated in Fig. 5.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The outer box or case w as, is made cylindrical in shape of sheet metal, and closed at one end, the other end being left open, to one I side of which is attached suitable legs or feet a 2, on which to rest; opposite to these legs on the top side of the box is made the long narrow opening or ballot receiving slot 0, the edges of which are stiffened by folding back the metal upon itself as at s 3. At the ends of the opening 0, a small portion of the sheet metal of which the box is made is lapped and riveted as at r 'r. The hole h, (see Fig. 2) is madein the side of the box a; as, near the edge of the open end in which to lock the lock Z, when the ballot box is declared closed, as indicated by the dotted lines at Z; when the handle 0, will appear as indicated by the dotted lines at c. The elongated locking hole or slot e, is made in the side of the box was, near the edge of the open end, and is arranged transverse to the ballot receiving slot, that is with the long way of the slot parallel with the edge of the box, the lower edge of the slot being equally distant and in the same direction from the opening 0 o, as the lower edge of the holes h, are from the opening 0 0, (see Fig. 3) the object being to lock the lock Z, through the holes It, in the inner box to w, and the slot e, in the outer box a: 00, while in use, to hold the two boxes together in such a manner that when the inner box 10, is turned so the lock Z, is at the bottom of the slot 6, (as shown in Fig. 1) the opening 0 o, in the two boxes will be together, and when the inner box to, is turned so the lock Z, is at the top of the slot 6, the opening 0 0', will be temporarily closed: to be used between the depositingof ballots and for greater protection against any ballot being surreptitiously passed into the ballot box; for still greater protection a bell may be attached to sound the alarm whenever the box is opened, as will be hereinafter described. The placing of the holes h, 71., and e, can be changed to the other end of the box with about the same results, viz: The hole It, and the elongated hole 6, can be made near the inner edge of box 20 w, and the holes h, made through near the corner at the closed end of the box at as, when it will be found that the box can be used and locked in the same manner as before only the lock will remain always at the same point.

The inner box to 20, (see Fig. 3) is made of sheet metal cylindrical in shape, and just a little smaller than the outer box w 00, one end closed and the other open. On one side will extend a long narrow opening 0, at the ends of which the two edges are lapped and riveted as at r r. The two holes 72., will be out through near the corner of the closed end ofthe box w w, the lower edge of the holes being the same distance and in the same direction as the lower edge of the slot e, from the opening 0 0'. The edges of this opening in the inner box to w, can be strengthened by folding back a piece of the metal upon itself as shown in the sectional view, or by bending a piece into the box w w, as indicated by the dotted lines at y. In this manner they form a chute to carry the ballot farther into the box before it is released increasing considerably the difliculty of extracting any ballot from the box through the opening 0 0'. The handle 0, is attached to the closed end of the inner box to.

In place of locking the boxes through holes as alreadydescribed the boxes may be locked by using a common staple as indicated in Fig. 8 thus: Omit the hole h,in the end of the inner box 20, and make the hole h,in the side of the inner box large enough for the staple 3 to pass through easily Attach the staple permanently to the end of a spring 4.- secured at the other end to the inner side of the box w, so as to hold the staple in the hole 71, and long enough to bend when the staple is pressed to let the top of staple go down even with the surface of the box 10. that when the boxes are put together with their openings 0 0; together the staple will spring up through the slot 6, and so the inner box 10, can be turned suflicien tly (carrying the staple along the slot e),to allowof closing the ballot receiving opening 0 0'. Through this staple the lock can be locked with the same result as before. The hole h, in the box was, must also be elongated suiticiently to allow the staple just described to spring up at that point to permanently lock the box at the closing of the polls.

The alarm attachment heretofore referred to is shown in detail in Fig. 7. The hell I), is held in place by a screw passing through it and through a hollow-standard underneath the bell and screwing into the plate 1), near its end. The other end of the plate 17, is cut off obliquely and fastened by a rivet near its point to the inside end of box 00 00. Another rivet is inserted at 'r'; the head of which is projected into the box to form a banking pin or stop for the hammer and Wire m. The 11ammer and part of the wire as shown by the Enlarge the slot 6, so

dotted lines atm, are meant to be shown as underneath the bell b, but the continuation of the hammer wire between the bell and the screw which holds it to the plate 19, is indicated by the heavy black line. The screw that passes through a loop in the end of the hammer wire also passes loosely through the dog or flopper a, on which the flopper turns when the upper end is pressed by the projecting point 70, which is fastened to the inside of the inner box 20 10, and when this box is turned to close the opening 0 0 the projection 70, carries the flopper a, over as indicated by the dotted lines, when it is forced back to place by the short end of the spring a, which presses against it close to the screw. Thelongend of the spring a, after passing around a screw that holds it in place and gives it a bearing presses against the hammer wire. The lower projection of the flopper a, rests against the bell wire and when the box is opened by turning the inner box to w, back till the openings o 0', come together the projection 7:;, will intersect with the upper part of flopper a, and press it toward the bell b, and the lower part of flopper a, will carry thehammer back with it until the upper end of the flopper IIO slips off from the projection 70, when the spring 12, will force the hammer m, quickly against tfhe bell b, and give the alarm described beore.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patout, is Y 1. A ballot box comprising the combination of a hollow member provided in'its wall with the ballot receiving slot extending substantially from end to end of such member; an inner member adapted to (by partial rotation) close and open such slot, and a suitable locking device adapted and arranged to lock the inner memberin position to permanently close the slot.

2. A ballot box comprising the combination of an outer hollow member open at one end and closed at the other end and having a curved Wall provided with a ballot receiving slot, and an inner member adapted to close theopen end of the outer member and arranged to project into suchouter member, and by partial rotation to close and open such slot.

3. A ballot box comprising the combination of an outer member and an inner member each provided with a slot and adapted to move with relation to each other, and, in conjunction with each other to form and close the opening into the 'box, and means for locking the two members with relation to each other.

4. In a ballot box the combination of the outer member provided with a.ballot-receiving slot and the inner member arranged to open and close such slot; an alarm, and mechanism operatively connecting such members and the alarm to operate the alarm when the members are moved to open or close the slot.

5. A ballot box comprising the combination of two hollow members each of which is open at one end and closed at the other and provided with a ballot receiving slot; said members being adapted to telescope together with their closed ends outward to form the ends of the box, and said slots being arranged to form, in conjunction with each other, an opening into the box.

6. A ballot box comprising the combination of the outer member provided with a ballot receiving slot and a locking hole; the inner member arranged to project into such outer member and provided with the locking hole arranged to be brought into conjunction with the locking hole of the other member; aspring secured to the inner member and provided with a staple arranged to be normally held in such hole by such spring.

7. Aballot box comprising the combination of an outer member provided with a slot and closed at one end and open at the other end and having a perforation near the open end, and an inner member provided with a slot and open at one end and closed at the other end and arranged to telescope within the outer member and provided at the closed end with perforations adapted in conjunction with the perforation in the outer member to receive a lockingdevice to secure the two members together.

8. A ballot box com prising the combination of two hollow cylindrical members each of which is open at one end and closed at the other and provided with a ballot-receiving slot; said members being adapted to telescope together with their closed ends outward to form the ends of the box and said slots being arranged to form in conjunction with each other an opening into the box which is adapted to'be closed by the rotation of the cylinders with relation to each other.

9. In a ballot box the combination of the outer member closed at one end and provided with a ballot receiving slot; an alarm mechanism mounted upon such outer member and provided with the flopper, and the inner member adapted to rotate within the outer member to close and open the slot and provided with the projection 70 arranged to engage the flopper to operate the alarm when theinner member is rotated- 10. A ballot box cylindrical in shape, one end of which is permanently closed, the other end being fitted with an inner box, the same shape as the outer box and just enough smaller to turn inside of it; both boxes providedwith an opening on the side through which the ballot can be placed in the box when the two openings are together, but by turning the inner box the opening in it will be carried away from the opening in the outer box and both openings be closed, provided with a suitable locking device to hold the boxes together, substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

11. A ballot box cylindrical in shape made of two parts, an outer box open at one end and an inner box to rotate inside of it, both pro: vided with a long narrow opening in their sides through which the ballots are placed in the box when the openings are together, in combination with the handle 0, attached to the inner box to rotate it, and by which to handle the whole box; a suitable locking device to hold the boxes together, and an alarm bell attached to inside of the box and provided with a hammer, and suitable mechan ism to sound an alarm whenever the opening 0 0, is opened, substantially as, shown and for the purpose set forth.

12. The ballot box set forth comprising the combination of an outer hollow member having a curved wall provided with a ballot receiving slot; an inner member adapted to (by partial rotation) close and open such slot; one of such members being provided with the locking slot and the other member being provided with the locking hole adapted in conjunction with each other to receive a suitable locking device, and such locking device passed through such hole and slot and arranged to secure the two members together and allow the partial rotation of the inner member to open and close the slot.

13. A ballot box comprising the combination of an outer hollow member having a curved wall provided with a ballot receiving slot and having a locking slot arranged in a position transverse to the ballot receiving slot; an inner member adapted and arranged to close and open the ballot-receiving slot and provided with a hole arranged to allow alocking device to be passed therethrough and through the lockingslot in the outer member, and such locking device adapted to be passed through the lock-receiving hole and the looking slot to allow such movement of the inner member as will cause it to close and open the ballot receiving slot.

14. A ballot box comprising the combination of an outer hollow member open at one end and closed at the other end and having a curved wall provided with a ballot receiving slot and having alocking slot arranged near the end of such member transverse to the ballot receiving slot; an inner membcradapted to close the open end of the outermember and arranged to project into such outer memher, and by partial rotation to close and open the ballot receiving slot and provided with a hole arranged to be brought into conjunction with the lockin g slot to allow a locking device to be passed therethrough, and such locking device passed through such hole and slot and adapted to allow the partial rotation of the inner member while the two members are locked together.

JUAN W. ERNEST.

\Vitnesses:

E. A. FORRESTER, I. H. HILL. 

